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Rooting HTC Dream (Singtel)

This is one of the most requested posts on my site. However, I think the post is redundant now. As many of you know, the process used to require the Goldcard method, which is complicated. Wes Garner, a developer and contributor to CyanogenMod and with his own apps, have come up with a new simpler guide. Check it out here, I have put them down here, in case someone takes it down:

Here we go:
1. Place the files on your SDCard (DREAIMG.nbh or sappimg.nbh plus FlashRec.apk)
2. Reboot your phone holding down Camera key for G1 / Volume Down for MT3G
3. This will scan your SDCard for the nbh file – if it does not detect it, try the other steps
4. Once it detects and loads the nbh file, press the Green / Send key to begin the process
— This will take around 5-10min —
5. Reboot the device
6. Once booted, log into your GMail account as normal
7. Open the Market and download: Linda File Manager (I prefer ASTRO but isn’t compatible with this version that we just loaded)
8. Open Linda and click FlashRec and install the application
9. Run the application
It will prompt you at first to backup your ‘Recovery image’ (do this)
10. Hit install Recovery Image (it may ask to download it first)
11. Reboot your phone holding the home key
12. Optional: Hit Wipe Data / Factory Reset (usually prevents any bugs, you don’t have any data on it anyway so why not)

*** FOLLOW THE NEXT INSTRUCTIONS PERFECTLY – DO NOT GO OUT OF ORDER ***

13. Hit Flash zip file from SDCard – select ota-radio-2_22_19_26I.zip
14. After the flash completes, hit reboot – after installing the update, the phone will automatically go back into recovery mode (this is good!)
15. Next, hit Flash zip from SDCard – select spl-signed.zip
16. Again, reboot and allow it to finish installing – it will reboot back into recovery mode
17. Finally, hit Flash zip from SDCard – select the ROM you chose to use

You’re done! After the final flash is done, reboot and enjoy your ROM and rooted phone (All credit to Wes Garner for the excellent guide)

[Er Lern: My advice is for you to install DangerSPL. It is smaller in size and has everything necessary for your baseband and radio. Besides, for CyanogenMod, which I highly recommend, it is a REQUIREMENT]

The previous updates and post are left here for archiving purposes. Thank you for using it.

Update: 6/11/2009 – Wow… it has only been nearly half a year, and not only have I gotten DONUT updates, but also the new ENCLAIR (2.0) updates are coming in slowly. And in between that time, I have extended the battery of my HTC Dream by using 1,600 mAh Andida branded batteries. Have a read here: https://erlern.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/extended-battery-for-htc-dream-singtel-set-1600-mah/. For those who successfully rooted their phones, may I suggest that you flash Cyanogen’s ROM. It is the BEST!

18) Go to Extra again, Open Disk Image, open up goldcard.img which you’ve saved to a directory earlier.Now, you should have two tabs, one is your removable disk, the other is goldcard.img. Press OK when prompted for “Sector Size” 512 (Hard disks/Floppy disks), click OK.

Disconnect the USB cable connected to your SD card, then plug it back again. Go to My Computer, you will see your SD card (E.g. “Removable Disk ( F:)” ), double click and see if you can access it. If it prompted you to format, then forget about this SD card, don’t think it will work. After trying for days, I ended up buying a Kingston 2GB card.

If you are able to access your SD card after written the goldcard.img to your removable disk proceed point 21.

22) Download RC7 from http://koushikdutta.blurryfox.com/G1/DREAMIMG-RC7.zipI used RC7, you may use other version if you want to, just google around.23) Extract DREAIMG.nbh to the root of your SD card.24) Exiting moment is now… Power off your phone, power on again by holding the camera and the power button at the same time.25) If all went smoothly, it will prompt you to press the Power button again to update26) Once all is done, remove the battery manually to power off the phone. Place the battery back and power on again, you are on RC7 now

27) Same as usual, you will need to sign in to your google account. However do take note that after RC 7 image, all APN configuration is not relevant to the ISP in Singapore.Click on the Menu key on your phone and configure the APN manually (google around, you should able to find you ISP APN configuration) Remember to set your APN to default.

Sign in to google again. Only once you are signed in, then proceed to (Point 26) because you need to download App like telnet from the Market.

Follow the steps from 3 – 14. Let me repeat: download the recovery.img and HardSPL files from the xda link above but follow the Unlockr’s steps (3 – 14). Once you have rooted your phone… it is time to load a custom ROM. If something does not work, power down your phone, and start the steps again, especially in the ‘telnetd’ part. Have faith, and don’t think too much 😛

29) Follow steps I and II from http://theunlockr.com/2009/06/07/how-to-load-a-custom-rom-radio-theme-on-the-t-mobile-g1/. Load the JF1.51 ROM first BEFORE you update your Radio. Very important. Do not bother to update any other SPLs (Second Program Loader). You will ‘brick’ it… if you ever find yourself in a situation like that (where the T-Mobile logo loads and freezes everytime you power on your phone), do NOT panic. Just follow back the steps to “Load your ROM” and you will be back on track. It is hard to brick your phone in reality when you have successfully completed step 28 of installing HardSPL. It is a safety measure.

Note: Please update the radio update from uk or us htc website before you update to JF version

By the way for those who want to see paid app in the android market you will need the ‘market enabler’ app.. (search in google ‘android market enabler’.. This will work only in rooted G1.

I have to say that the method to do this ‘surgery’ is quite complicated, when compared with Windows Mobile.

i cant…i done everything by every forum and sites..haha..it always end up by when i try to use terminal emulator to root my mem card..it cant..haiz..haha if u can root it..notice me then u can hlp me..or else its waiting for hero for me or iphone

Hey, yeah… it was initially a hard decision but you know what? No regrets at all. Eventually, I would have rooted it, so might as well do it sooner. Benefits? Plenty… better camera & camcorder. Better battery life… just played songs on it for 2.5 hrs and on wifi for an hour. Still hv 35% to go. Better wifi range. Etc. Yes… u need to downgrade to t-mobile UK. Void any warranty frm Singtel. To check whether ur card is able to be rooted, just follow steps 1 to 21. If step 21 fails… then it means u need a new mem card. Don’t worry… step 21 doesn’t change ur Singtel ROM. Just read more from links once u get to step 28. I’ll update the instructions tonight… since there are some better steps from else where 🙂 go for it!

Okies…. I have updated the steps already… particularly 28 and 29. Do not worry… you wont brick your phone unless you really are very stubborn and dont follow instructions easily 😛 Don’t be like me. Hahaha. All the best. I am not going to flash in HERO until it is more stable and widely used. 🙂

Hi, anyone can help? I have tried step 1 to Step 21. Steps by steps for 2 days now. Still cannot even get my SD card loaded properly with goldcard.img. So bought 1x 2G Kingston, 1x 2G SanDisk, 1x 1G Transcend. After step 21, it prompts me to Format again. I have get the CID reverse’s goldcard and CID reverse + 00 goldcard. but still have the same issue. any clue?

Its ok… that means it has been downgraded edy. U’ll see the t-mobile screen when u on ur phone. Check ur phone info and status… u’ll see it is now… rc7. Mine also didn’t ask to power again but auto restrart. 🙂

The class refers to the max & min write/read speed for that particular card. I suspect that htc dream works well with a class 4 & above card. There’ only 6 tat is higher than 4 at the moment.

The only way to check is by looking @ the packaging for it to be written, or some cards like kingston has it on its card itself… small ‘class’ followed by the number. This is not compulsary for manufacturers but if it is newly manufactured and is class 4, they’ll usually write it somewhere. They ignore for class 2.

Sorry, I meant buy microsdhc instead of microsd. The price is not much different. The former is more quality assured in my opinion. I worked off a kingston microsdhc 8GB class 4, which costs only rm69 🙂

Just: It is worth the effort. Geek phone? That would be a Windows Mobile phone 😛 Anyway, I do not think formatting an sd card multiple times would damage it. It’s like formatting a USB thumbdrive multiple times. G1 should be able to read FAT32 format.

for some reason unknown, the msd card is not read by my pc !!.. v sian.. i know the hp is not bricked but its stuck at the screen lor .. very sian n sigh.. using spare HP and it reli feels like a major downgrade after using the G1..

Yup, there are. In Malaysia you find some places offering such services. I’m sure it’s the same in Singapore. Or you can ask in http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2104567 for someone to help you (or by payment). Wont be expensive I’m sure. Or there is sure to be some kind-hearted person there. All the best 🙂

have a question for u.. i had a request saying for system udpate and i selected ok. den it started to update my g1 and then reboot itself.. then there was a pic of a ‘microchip’ and now its still showing htc dream screen. what is going on with my g1??any ideas..

Congrats… you have just updated your T-mobile software to the cupcake version, which is original one. That means you cannot ‘root’ your phone anymore, unless you re-do everything. To tell the truth, I think you will better enjoy with the version you are currently handling 🙂 Don’t bother to root lar since you have cupcake now 🙂

Then how come my htc dream hasn’t received the update yet? How do I get the update? I’ve been waiting for my update for ages… I’m using singtel 3g network thou, but I’ve yet to receive the update. =( its sad to see other singtel htc dream with the update except me =(

Dom & lw:
The cupcake update will be done OTA (over-the-air) over any internet connection once it is available for singtel HTC Dreams. It is NOT available just yet. For that reason, most (including myself) users will root the phone and install their own versions (like the one explained in this post). It is NOT the official singtel version and will most likely void the software warranty. But it’s worth it for me and many others. So sorry… no Cupcake updates for singtel users yet.

i see. Hmmm heard that with the singtel 1.5 update for our htc dream, we might not be able to get to use or find all of the applications on the market thou. So i’m still considering if I should root my HTC Dream while waiting for the update =]

You can try… but take it from me… it will be a looooooooooooooong wait as they do not want the sales for HTC Magic (which has 1.5) to decrease. Anyway, now my HTC Dream can do everything that Magic can 🙂 and more. I even overclock my CPU to the max at 528Mhz.

@erlern some people over at hwz said they got the singtel update, and it’s got everybody started lol. even the “just” guy (read above) got his update in singapore. which means it’s available! i won’t root yet, since i wanna keep my new warranty.

lw: yeah… only 2 persons got the 44MB download. Ah well… I am in Malaysia and to think that Donut version is coming out next month… I think I would rather root it to get access to the latest updates 🙂 Haha… but good to hear that.

To overclock, get SetCPU app from the market (paid) and you need ‘root access’.

dom: I am sure there are many shops in Singapore (like our Malaysian Lowyat.net equivalent) that offers services like that 🙂 Besides, ‘just’ rooted his too… although in a different manner. He got the OTA using another country’s android version 🙂

Just: the themes are only available if you install the Hero ROM which requires root access. Of course Donut will be better than Cupcake since it is an version improvement.

Leonard: The Hero ROM is only officially available for HTC Hero phones. The ROM that is made available for rooted G1 phones is NOT efficient since Hero ROM relies on widgets which needs a lot of RAM. Hero phone has 288MB RAM. G1 & HTC Dream has only 192MB RAM. Therefore, Hero ROM on HTC Dream will perform quite sluggishly especially with active widgets.

so probably the *highest ota update for G1 will be the donut? since the official Hero will be on another HTC hp by itself. Of cos unless we root it and install the Hero ROM which will run faster on the G1 then?

i guess we cant always be upgrading the firmware then.. but still its a damn cool phone. i never used the iphone before but im glad i dint cos this 1 rox.

I have not tried JacHero’s ROM and probably won’t because of the need to install a new Radio and all the other requirements which would make coming back to Cyanogen’s a hassle. Wait for the latest incorporation which makes it much faster and usable for G1 first, if you really must use it. But I really dun think Hero ROM works well on G1 becoz of the hardware limitation in G1.

It is too troublesome to use wifi, better to just use GPRS, which I suspect is a ‘pay as you go’ plan… you do not need a data plan unless u plan on using high usage (at least that is the general service from most telcos I know in the world).

I am sure you can get a PAYG data APN. Or worse comes to worse, use another person’s sim card. but honestly speaking, I use a basic GPRS connection to validate my gmail. 🙂 All the best.

Hi erlern, Your artical is very helpful, but I’m encountering a problem now, not sure if you have some idea:

I got this Singtel G1 about 2 months ago, and now automatically updated to 1.6 already, in the build number showing DRD20.

You are right about the original 1G SD card can’t not work when I stuck at 21, then I went to buy a new SD card this afternoon, but now stuck at 24. I can see the 3 color screen but with a error code 00028002 – not allow. I searched everything I can find but no luck. Not only RC7 but also I have tried RC29, neither can help.

I’m having the same problem here as well; the error screen and the color thing. I guess it’s the SD card which is not compatible. I’m trying a few right now actually. Lucky i’ve got spares. This is my last spare hopefully it works 😦 hahas! been on this for 2 days! gosh!

alright, i browse thru and all comes down to the goldcard thing. I haven’t been able to get it right. i used 5 microSD cards. 2 kingston, 1 8g kingston class 4 and a few more cards all got damaged and had to be reformatted. I’m really really getting cranky with all this.

It just doesn’t seem to work at all D’ goldcard. I tried directly loading D” NBH it says not allowed blablabla + some error code 0028….

Plus i tried one click, D’ flashrec thingy Doesn’t allow me to backup my rom which is not good and i dare not flash my RA’s image directly and i dun think changing D’ hardSPL directly is a good choice? Though changing the hardSPL would gain me access to downgrade to RC7.

Do help me out on this one thanks a million. I’m working on it for days!

Johnny: Reformatting does not damage the card at all. The main thing of flashing the goldcard is to ensure that you are able to load another ROM into your device. It is absolutely important to downgrade it to RC7 FIRST in order to ROOT the phone. Without ROOTING the phone, you will BRICK your phone trying to install Hardspl etc. I repeat, do not flash any other thing except RC7 or the other compatible ROMS for your devices. Only after that should you be flashing other custom ROM and Radio baseband.

But i mean i dun mean reformatting damages D’ card it’s when i do the goldcard method via D’ HxH editor thing. i copy paste then save then when i load it back to my phone it says “damaged sd card” i tried alot of sd cards i can’t find a compatible one.

Any ideas how to find a compatible one? I tried kingston 2GB as well. all got damaged! 😦

I’m actually using kingston 8GB Class 4… and had no problem. the other thing could be this… are you using a card reader to edit the microsd? or are you using the phone? It is better to use a dedicated card reader. make sure it is connected to a main usb port, and not a peripherial. The former lacks sufficient power (electricity) and may cause problems in transferring (editing) your card.

My friend. I’ve tried a 1GB kingston card today. I plug it directly to a card reader and a main USB port. Perharps it’s D’ latest version of Qmat? could you send me your qmat? or perharps Maybe a short video on D’ goldcard part?

Please! i’m really stuck. This is my third day already and it’s 4am in singapore. I’m physically and mentally tired 😦

johnny: goldcard is specific to the handset it is created for. So it is quite useless to use mine. Unfortunately, I did not keep my goldcard nor my qmat software, since it could only work for 10 minutes. I would advice you to ask around in xda-developers or something. All the best. Worse comes to worse… go to a shop that provides the service for rooting the phone 🙂

I did a quick search and found 1 hosted here: http://www.brsbox.com/werighty … unfortunately, I cant read it since it’s in Chinese… if you can register, maybe you can download it off that site? 🙂 All the best.

Yup I stay in SG, and I use a HTC dream singtel set and was done using a Win7 machine. Just follow the steps above and a few notes on the following :

– Best if you use a cardreader to format your card and do all the hex editing, rom/image copying and all. It’s a painful process, it took me an hour tops to finish it all but it’s worth it.

– For step 4 and 5, make sure that you copy that string very carefully. This is the ID of your SD card that your unit recognizes. If you fail here, you’ll fail the rest.

– On step 12, remember to replace the first two digits of your REVERSED generated ID (from qmat) with zeros before you paste it to generate your goldcard ID.

– On step 21, test if your SD card is compatible by trying to copy over a file on the SD card AFTER you have done the hexedit. If the SD card says that it needs to be format, its time for you to look for an alternative SD card that you can use. I used a SANDISK 8GB and luckily it works.

Lastly, get some sleep so you can feel more refreshed and less prone to error. A sharp ax takes lesser time to cut a tree than a blunt one. Cheers bro!

So what roms you use? I’m using D” stock donut 1.6 with root base. lOls thinking of using hero roms. Btw i didn’t ues D” one click method x.x i use D’ telnetd thingy hahas. omg was like damn scary and all man! hahas but i made it!

The best that I have ever used (I didnt try the rest) is Cyanogenmod. It pushes the G1 to its limit while releasing as much RAM as possible. I am not sure about the HERO rom since the G1 has not enough RAM to run it smoothly unless you deploy other ‘riskier’ methods to convert your SD card space to RAM. Anyway, let me know your choice and performance on it. Remember, always INSTALL a recovery console to avoid getting a BRICKED phone. Always do a NAND backup of your phone before installing ANY ROM!. Absolutely important, if not, you WILL cry! 🙂 All the best~!

Follow the steps from 3 – 14. Let me repeat: download the recovery.img and HardSPL files from the xda link above but follow the Unlockr’s steps (3 – 14). Once you have rooted your phone… it is time to load a custom ROM. If something does not work, power down your phone, and start the steps again, especially in the ‘telnetd’ part. Have faith, and don’t think too much 😛

the things that i want to ask :

from theunlockr, requires files are RC29, Recovery Image, and HardSPL For G1

from xda its only recovery.img and HardSPL.

So, what files do i need ? Should i put recovery.img , HardSPL from xdadevelopers and RC7 files before?
or delete RC7 file as it has been used before.

and. from the unlockr , it said that the method is obsolete! Is it safe to using that way ?

For D’ hero ROMS i’ve flashed a few mlign and eclair expresso thingy. <<< D" expresso thing always forces close when i move to D' other 7 screens.
MLIGN3.2b i feel it's pretty and i would say really alright BUT, it is still lagging and trust me if ya rushing for time and have lots of smses coming in you'll find it god damn irritating. hahahhas!

Well i'm enjoying D' rooted G1 right now. And yes i headed ur advice to do a nand backup ALWAYS before flashing new rom ahahahs!

I use astro ta backup D" aps to APK files. hahas If you guys have nice apps or what we could share or something.

Just: I am sorry, but I have not rooted any new HTC Dreams yet since the time I made this post. I believe it still works for any G1/Dream sets as is attested by the readers.

Nexus one is nice, but see my latest post… it’s just not my cup of tea.

Johnny: You just have to do a nand backup for the ROM you felt the most stable…. so that u can always go back to that one. making one b4 every flash would be too time consuming. Just my 2 cents 🙂

Oh, which ROM is that, which overclocks? You meant it maxes out your clock at 528Mhz? That one would be most ROMS, even cyanogen’s is natively clocked at 528Mhz. Well, no worries, most effort is always at the person who does the rooting itself :).

I tried the latest Cyanogen Rom but i feel it lags on my G1. The rom is also not as speedy and smooth as it used to be. Maybe you guys can try out the Eclair 2.0 Rom for G1 @xda developers forum, by Manup456. I used it for quite some time and I can say that it rocks !

Hi guys, for those who wanna install hero rom in G1, look for the MySense Hero Rom in xda-developers forum under the sub-section “Dream Android Development”. I am currently running it and i can say that it runs as fast as an original HTC hero, if not faster.

Johnny: The market? I use Market Enabler (free app) to fake mine to T-mobile. I think once you use cyanogen’s ROM or any other ROM you will lose your singapore market access. No big loss actually since S’pore app market is really limited.

Sunset: I am on Cyanogenmod 4.2.13 and I have to say that it is really fast. I found that there are some tweeks to make normal usage fast and smooth. I fear the only thing about the Hero Rom & Eclair ones is the need to flash the DangerSPL which is … dangerous 😛

Hi! I upgraded my O2 XDA Stealth to wm 6.5 in December 2009. Last week the battery got discharged completely. While charging the Phone started booting up and did not started more than 2 hours. I removed battery and restarted the phone O2 screen appearing and blinking. Please dvise to fix this up

Madhu: this is not a WM6.5 thread 🙂 nor a XDA stealth thread. But I suggest since you have discharged your phone completely. let it charge for a while without turning it on. If your radio and SPL are flashed correctly, the LED lights will turn on after a couple of hours.

Remember your battery is flat. so you have to wait. Worse case scenario, you need to do a factory reset. Please consult your manual on how to do a soft reset. and then a hard reset.

Hi there..
I just bought my HTC Dream and currently it comes with android 1.6 (build number DRD20). The steps above can be use to root my handphone or not? I’m so scare that i’ll bricked my phone. Do you anywhere place in kL that provide this services?

I have a HTC Dream. Managed to get goldcard working for Kingston 4GB micro-SD. The original Transcend 1GB micro-SD did not work. Cynogenmod 6.0 is great, but lagging sometimes. It is definitely better nonetheless. Thanks for the great efforts in putting the guide together. Cheers!

Hi, my recommendation is to stop using the RC for CyanogenMod 6. It is not usable and not efficient in my honest opinion. The apps eat into the internal storage and widgets are very problematic. My recommendation would be to use Cyanogenmod 5.0.8 Final. That is the best and most stable. It is a pity that cyanogen does not put in the old method of installing apps to the microSD card. I guess he is too intent on getting his ROM out to various sets than on the Dream/G1.

I Live in Singapore and using the Singtel HTC Dream with Ver 1.6 , DRD20. i have searched high & low in internet and attempted many procedures with no success . i really love this HTC Dream which comes within my budget but the very big difficulty is cannot install application in SD card . today my luck brings me to the posting by you and seems to be very promising . can i request your experties to ocnfirm my phone can be rooted with the procedure you mentioned above ?

Thanks for your prompt reply , As my skillset is not that good to root and in previous attemt i got stuck with no helping hand , is there any contact i can call you if i am stuck ? I promise i dont misuse/ trouble you . you can let me know any prefered timing . At least a yahoo chat or hoogle talk communication can also be helpfull . i will contcat you only if i hit problem.

Its like my DREAM come True . With your priceless extended help and support (Gtalk) , I was able to root my Singtel HTC Dream with Ver 1.6 , DRD20 . i am very happy to use the CyanogenMod 6.0 . And achived my main object to have apps2sd , able to install many rooted apps ….etc.

Once again , THANK YOU very much for your time and really appreciate your professional attitude to spare your time to help a un-known person like me . Wish you all the best

i feell that you ar ein same state as iwas . yes i did get this errror . you need to use gold card . i followed the “Hard method : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=547133 (thanks to Amon_RA)” exactly what it said , and it works . Do let me know if u are in SG and need help .you can send me email to ” pvsrnaidu@yahoo.com ” , as i seldom check this forum.

I tried to create the Goldcard, but fail last night. It was due to I edit the Logical Disk, not Physical Disk. Today I did follow the instruction to create the Goldcard successful. I did use the phone to format the SD Card, then edit the physical disk. It seems ok with Windows to copy files in the Goldcard.

Sorry to hear that. There is no way to recover it, unless you know a bit of soldering and electrical works. You will need to get spare parts from ebay to revive your Dream. Instructions are at XDA forums.